Merry Christmas

“Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

Luke 2:1-20 NASB

Christmas prayer

Christmas prayer

Prayer reminder

Pray for your friends.

Prayer reminder

Family Rules

Prayer

Prayer reminder.

Christmas thought.

It can be easy to view God simply as a friend to go to in times of trouble or a magic genie that grants all of your prayers. But God is so much more than that, and the blessings He wants to give to you are endless! He offers so many wonderful things—completely free of charge–including hope, joy, and peace for your heart. God wants nothing but the best for you. 

Awe-inspiring moments with God

Unfortunately, most of us probably have fewer awe-inspiring moments with God than we should. Our relationship with Him often becomes too comfortable and even ordinary. This Christmas, make an attempt to regain those awe-inspiring moments with God. Strive to make your relationship with Him something so inspiring that it causes you to rejoice like the angels did. Don’t let your relationship with Him be ordinary, but rather make it extraordinary. 

Prayer nugget

Pray for San Bernardino

A prayer for Husbands

I found this today and wanted to share it. We as men need to be the husbands that God wants for each of us to be.                      

Great reminder

Billy Graham - Prayer

Pray for Paris

Dear Lord, we know You sit on Your throne above the earth. You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble therefore we will not fear. We pray for the hurting people in Paris today. As the God of all comfort we pray that You will comfort those that are hurting today in Paris. We pray that the church would mobilize and minister in the midst of this disaster. We pray that many will turn to You and call upon Your name and turn their hearts over to You. We pray that those who are bent on doing evil will be convicted of their wrong doing.  We pray that all nations will bow before you.  We pray all this in the powerful name of Jesus, Amen. 

Pray for Paris

Please join me in sending prayers love and light to the people of Paris and beyond.

Pray for Paris

Paris shootings: 18 reported killed, hostage situation ongoing

Prayer thought for today.

Prayer reminder

Prayer for problems

Pray for your friends

Update on Haley

Today is the day that was planned to remove the ventilator tube from Haley.  She was somewhat awake last night and not happy at all.  There is a meeting this afternoon with the doctors so we are not positive if they will try the removal this afternoon or tomorrow.  

Please continue to pray for our Haley girl!  My hope is that she will not have the same breathing issues as she had prior to the intubation! #TheHaleyFactor

Urgent prayer request.

Update on Haley Amlong;

Haley is in ICU and has been intubated, her blood pressure had dropped, she spiked a fever and has fluid in her lungs. She had been put in a medically induced coma so she can rest. She is very sick. 

Update on Haley

Curt: "The surgery was a success but she is in a lot of pain from the surgery and medicine doesn't seem to be helping a whole lot." 

Please continue to pray for Haley and her family. 

Pray for Haley

Please pray for my friend's daughter.

Once again, our family is in need of our FB prayer warriors to pray without ceasing. Haley will be going into surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 9:30 to have her gallbladder removed. We are asking God to guide the surgical team as well as peace for Mom and Dad and total healing for Haley! 

They Said If He Pointed Toward the Sky Again, He’s Finished. Then His Sister Sends Him A Note

Luke Keller was a junior in high school suffering from depression, thoughts of suicide, and separation-anxiety disorder. His dad left when he was ten years old, his grandmother, who had lived with him, passed away from cancer, and his grandfather had been sentenced to prison.

He remembers the day the suicidal thoughts almost got the best of him.

He had just returned home from school when he saw a list of chores his mom left for him to complete, the Portsmouth Daily Times reports. In an attempt to clear his head, Luke started up the lawn mower and got to work.

With suicidal thoughts still filling his mind, Luke made an effort to talk to the one person he never tried to talk to before, God.

“I said ‘God if you are real. If you are what people say you are, then tell me something because today I’m going to end my life. I need you now if you’re real.’”

As he worked through his list of chores, he heard a voice say, “I want you to follow me.” Luke asked the Lord to repeat his request, and again he heard Him say, “I want you to follow me.”

Luke fell to his knees and started crying. He tells IJ Lift that what he felt at that moment is almost unexplainable. He was left in “complete shock” after enduring an entire year of therapy and feeling as though there was only one way out. He couldn’t believe the suicidal thoughts and the feeling of separation anxiety were gone.

All he could say was “Thank you” over and over again.

Feeling as though it was God who gave him the strength to carry on, Luke used his senior year of football to show his gratitude. After every touchdown the starting running back scored, he would kneel in the end zone and point up toward the sky.

However, not everyone was a fan of his touchdown celebration. When his team made it to the second round of the play-offs, one of the officials told Luke that if he made the gesture again, he would be penalized and not allowed to play the rest of the game.

“I was completely devastated,” Keller explains. “What I play for is to glorify God. I decided I was just going to do it and if I got thrown out, then I got thrown out. I wouldn’t even be here right now if it wasn’t for God saving me.”

At halftime, he was given a note from his sister that simply read:

“Be patient and let God work.”

After scoring another touchdown, Keller refrained from pointing to the sky. But when he looked into the stands, he saw the 7,000 people in attendance kneeling and pointing to the sky, just like he had been doing after every touchdown.

“I felt like God said, ‘Listen Luke, I told you Satan would come at you and I would separate it.’”

Luke story didn’t end there, either. Thanks to his stellar play during his senior season, Luke was recruited by Morehead State University in Kentucky. However, life threw a few more curve balls.

At the start of his sophomore season, Luke suffered what was thought to be a sprained ankle, but was later discovered to be a more severe injury that would require surgery.

However, when Luke woke up after his surgery, he discovered that the surgeon had accidentally operated on both ankles. While working to get ready for his junior season, Luke suffered a broken wrist and again needed surgery.

Later, Luke contracted MRSA from the surgery. Doctors told him his chances of putting on a uniform again were slim to none.

Then, just six weeks into his treatment, Luke got a call from his doctor.

“He said, ‘Hey, are you sitting down?’ I’m thinking oh no, what else is going to come up,” Luke says. “He said, ‘I just wanted to tell you that God has blessed you. Your blood work is perfect. It’s completely back to normal.’”

Luke was stunned. On October 10, 2015, he was able suit up for the Morehead State Eagles again. As he ran onto the field, the same flood of emotions he felt when he heard a voice while mowing, and when he saw what the crowd had done in the stands, came rushing back.

Pray for Mexico

Hurricane Patricia, the strongest hurricane ever recorded, is expected to reach the coast of Mexico this evening. Please take the next few minutes to pray. We are asking God for the protection and safety of all who are in the path of this storm.

Encouragement for husbands.

Athlete's prayer before an event.

Dear Father,

May I compete with your love shining in my heart. May I push myself to be the best. I believe I can with your wisdom in my mind. May I have the strength, endurance and skills I need to be the athlete I know I can be. I worship you, I surrender to you. 

Lord, all that I do today is for you and your glory. 

Amen.

Thoughts to live by

1] Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble; it is a "steering wheel" that directs us in the right path throughout life.

2] Do you know why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the rear view mirror is so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, look ahead and move on. 

3] Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write. 

4] All things in life are temporary.  If going well enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong don’t worry, they can't last long either. 

5] Old friends are like Gold! New friends are Diamonds! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a base of Gold! 

6]  Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end! 

7] When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities. 

8] A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything  worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision." 

9] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them; and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES; it takes away today’s PEACE.

Giving

Few things reveal the heart better than money. Money has an amazing way of displaying what you really believe and what you really value. No matter who and what stage of life you are at, there is no better time than now to learn to be generous with your money. Here’s what the Bible says: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” You must give, and you must learn to do it cheerfully.

Here are just 2 quick tips:

• Remember that it’s not your money. The money belongs to God—he just gives it to you to manage it. And he means for you to manage it well and to his glory.
• Give to the Lord first. I know people who say they can’t give to the church, and yet they’ve got a new cell phone and are carrying a cup of Starbucks into church every week. That doesn’t compute. Learn to give the first and best of your money to the Lord. The harder that seems, the more you need to do it.

Time to pray

Thought for the week

"Some churches prey on their pastor. Instead pray for your pastor."

Have you prayed today?

God's creation taking time to pray.

Have you taken time to talk to the Heavenly Father today?

10 things to pray specifically for our pastor

We are called to pray for our Pastor EVERYDAY. In this day and age it is even more important for us to hold up the man that God has brought to be our overseer, our shepherd, our teacher, our encourager and our friend.

Here are some ideas to help you pray every day for our pastor.

1.          His Anointing. The anointing on the life of our Pastor is PRECIOUS. We have to pray that God keeps increasing its level and flow. Pray that God keeps pouring the oil on his head  so that it keeps flowing in our church. Without the anointing he is just an ordinary man. He needs the anointing to function effectively and grow our church. 

2.           His Marriage. This is a critical area which needs our prayers more than anything. Satan hates marriage in general and worse in the life of our Pastor. Even the greatest minister cannot minister effectively in the middle of an earthquake in his marriage. Satan’s design is to destroy our Pastor’s marriage and cause pain to the church. Pray that God will bless his marriage with many years of love and peace.

3.          His Children. To be a child of a Pastor is an involuntary calling in itself. They didn’t have a choice to be in ministry but are born into it and it’s not an easy role they have. There is a lot of pressure placed on them to be carbon copies of their parents, without going through the processes of life that their parents went through. There are many documented cases of ministry kids who rebelled against the church and against God, and pursued a lifestyle of sin. Pray that God keeps our Pastor’s children and that the pressure of being a Pastors’ child doesn’t destroy them.  

4.          His finances.  We have to pray that God blesses our Pastor’s finances because the laborer is worthy of his wages (Matthew10:10). Our pastor is not a spirit, void of human needs like food, shelter and clothing. It is a good thing for God to bless your Pastor financially. Pray that God meets all of his needs and gives him more than enough.

5.          His Leadership Team. Those who serve with our Pastor, need your prayers too. The workload of a church is never evenly spread between the membership and the leadership. The leadership carries a heavy load and need your prayer. Pray that they serve the vision faithfully, that they stay loyal and committed and that God blesses them for all that they do for our church.

6.          His protection. Satan is out to destroy our Pastor. Yes you heard that right, Satan wants to destroy our Pastor. There are many documented cases of Pastors who have been destroyed in their prime years. You need to pray for protection for our Pastor.

7.          His church growth. One of the best things we can pray for God to bless your Pastor with is miraculous church growth. Church growth is a blessing, and our prayers are key to seeing it come to pass. The best church growth is church growth birthed in prayer. Pray that God sends people to the church, to grow and serve in ministry.

8.          His Peace of Mind. Ministry has a lot of stress and pressure. Pray for the peace of God which passes all understanding to envelope his mind.

9.          His spiritual ears and eyes. The last thing we need is a Pastor who’ e spiritual ears and eyes are not functioning. He has to see in the spirit and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church. Because we do not want to follow a man who is spiritually blind and spiritually deaf we need to pray that he never loses his spiritual insight, because that is what is going direct our path.

10.              His heart. Pastors constantly give their hearts to many people, and SOME let them down and break their hearts. Sometimes they can fall for the trap of never trusting anyone again, because of a few people who were disloyal. You must pray that God heals his heart from all the pain accumulated in the journey of ministry.

Prayer reminder

Praise report

God is on the move.  Here is a praise report of how God is working through a nurse in Singapore. 

Praise report:

1-2 years ago i prayed that one day we will have a bible study group in KTPH( hospital). Yesterday that was fulfilled. For the first time,4 of us nurses came together to study the book of John, shared our personal salvation stories and prayed for one another. 

About 3 months ago one saturday, we also had bible study at the ktph area together with  yishun care grp and we prayed that someday a group of believers will gather here and study together. 

We praise God for His presence. More of the desire He stirs in our heart to be deepened  in His Word and share the Truth, the Way and the Life. 

Continue to cover us in prayer as we reach out more medical/ non-medical/ filipinos and other nationalities! To Him be glory forever!!!

Just talk to God

I got this picture from a friend today. 

Prayer

Pray for your family

Prayer thought for today

Prayer reminds us

I received this good reminder today.

Are you close to Him today?

Wayne Watson - Somewhere In The World.avi

January 1, 1994 Wayne Watson recorded Somewhere in The World. At the time we had a 6 year old son and one on the way. This song became a favorite for my wife and I as we started praying for the future wife of our two sons. Take a minute to listen to this song and start praying for the husband or wife of your children today.

Have you talked to God today?

Pray for our nation

Click this link to join the prayer team for your state. 

http://billygraham.org/decision-america-tour/?utm_source=DAT+email+09.23.2015&utm_medium=bgemail&utm_campaign=DAT&utm_term=BA159YEML&SOURCE=BA159YEML#gf_12

God's Word Calls Us to Pray

One key reason to pray is because God has commanded us to pray. If we are to be obedient to His will, then prayer must be part of our life in Him. Where does the Bible call us to prayer? Several passages are relevant:

"Pray for those who persecute you" –Matthew 5:44 

"And when you pray …" –Matthew 6:5

"This, then, is how you should pray …" –Matthew 6:9

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." –Romans 12:12

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." –Ephesians 6:18

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." –Philippians 4:6

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." –Colossians 4:2

"Pray continually" -1 Thessalonians 5:17

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone …" -1 Timothy 2:1

Prayer is an act of obedience. God calls us to pray and we must respond.